Date of Death Appraisals in Los Angeles: Commercial Property in Estates and Trusts

Los Angeles County holds an enormous amount of family-owned commercial real estate: apartment buildings bought decades ago, a strip center in the San Gabriel Valley, a small industrial building near the port, a mixed-use corner in the Valley. When the owner dies, the first number the trustee, the executor and the CPA all need is what each property was worth on the date of death. Our statewide guide to date-of-death appraisals covers the basics. This page covers what is different when the property is in Los Angeles County.

When does a Los Angeles estate or trust need a date-of-death appraisal?

Most of the time when the property is commercial or income-producing. Common reasons:

• Stepped-up basis. Under Internal Revenue Code Section 1014(a), property acquired from a decedent generally takes a basis equal to its fair market value at the date of death. When an heir or the trust later sells, the CPA needs a supported number for that basis.
• Estate tax returns. For larger estates, the value of each property goes on the return. Under Section 2032, the executor can elect to value the estate as of six months after death instead (or as of the date of an earlier sale or distribution), but only if the election lowers both the gross estate and the tax. That can mean two values for the same property.
• Trust administration. A successor trustee dividing or selling property needs values to treat beneficiaries fairly and to report to them. See trust administration appraisals.
• Equalizing shares. One sibling keeps the apartment building, another takes the warehouse and a third takes cash. A value for every property, on the same date, is what makes that split fair.
• Disputes. Heirs, trustees and creditors sometimes disagree about value. An independent, well-supported report keeps the conversation on the evidence.
• Property tax. Prop 19 reassessment and any appeal of the new value turn on what the property was worth on the date of death (see below).

General information, not legal or tax advice. Your attorney or CPA decides which values you need.

How does probate work for real estate in Los Angeles County?

Under Los Angeles Superior Court Local Rule 4.3, except for the North District, all probate matters are filed and heard in the Central District at the Stanley Mosk Courthouse, 111 North Hill Street. Since February 2, 2026, North District probate cases have also been calendared in Department 18 at Stanley Mosk.

In a formal probate, the personal representative delivers the inventory to the probate referee designated by the court, and under Probate Code Section 8902 the referee appraises the property the personal representative does not. That is the court’s inventory value. It is not the same thing as a private narrative appraisal, and the two serve different purposes. A CPA supporting basis on a large commercial property, or heirs who are dividing several buildings, may still want a full report that shows the comparables, the income analysis and the reasoning. We do not act as a probate referee. We provide independent appraisals to trustees, executors, heirs and their attorneys and CPAs.

Many Los Angeles estates never see a courtroom because the property was held in a living trust. Then there is no referee, and the successor trustee needs values on their own.

What does the community property rule mean for basis?

California is a community property state, and that matters here. Section 1014(b)(6) treats the surviving spouse’s one-half share of community property as acquired from the decedent too, as long as at least half of the whole community interest was includible in the decedent’s gross estate. In plain terms, when the property was community property, the date-of-death value can set the new basis for the whole property, not just the decedent’s half. That makes a supported value as of the date of death more important, not less.

General information, not tax advice. Talk to your CPA about how Section 1014 applies to your estate.

Does Prop 19 trigger a reassessment of inherited Los Angeles commercial property?

Usually, yes. The State Board of Equalization explains that for transfers on or after February 16, 2021, Prop 19 limits the parent-child exclusion to a family home or family farm, with a value limit, and eliminates the exclusion for other real property. So when a parent dies and a child inherits an apartment building, a retail center or an industrial building, the Los Angeles County Assessor will generally set a new base year value as of the date of death.

The paperwork has a clock. Under Revenue and Taxation Code Section 480, when a change in ownership happens because of a death, the change in ownership statement (BOE-502-D) is due within 150 days after the date of death, or, if the estate is probated, when the inventory and appraisal is filed. If the assessor’s new value looks too high, a supported date-of-death appraisal is the evidence for an appeal. For 2026, the State Board of Equalization lists November 30, 2026 as the end of the regular assessment appeal filing period in Los Angeles County; supplemental and escape assessments have their own deadlines. See property tax appeal appraisals.

General information, not legal or tax advice. Confirm your deadlines with your attorney, your CPA or the Assessment Appeals Board.

What Los Angeles issues change a value as of the date of death?

A date-of-death appraisal has to read the property as it was on that date. In Los Angeles County, these come up again and again:

• Rent stabilization. In the City of Los Angeles, the Rent Stabilization Ordinance generally covers rental units in properties built on or before October 1, 1978, plus some replacement units. Some other cities in the county have their own rent ordinances, and most other apartments fall under the state cap in Civil Code Section 1947.12. For an older apartment building, which rules applied to each unit on the date of death, and the rents actually in place, shape the income and the value. We work from the rent roll as of that date, not today’s.
• Seismic retrofit orders. City of Los Angeles Ordinance 183893 requires retrofits of pre-1978 wood-frame soft-story buildings and non-ductile concrete buildings. Whether the work was done, under way or still ahead on the date of death affects what a buyer would have paid.
• The January 2025 fires. For property in or near the Eaton Fire and Palisades Fire areas, the date of death decides which property is being appraised. An owner who died before the fire left an intact building in a pre-fire market. An owner who died after left a damaged building or a lot in a very different market. See casualty loss appraisals for before-and-after values.
• Leases and occupancy on the date. A building that was half vacant on the date of death, or that had a below-market lease with years left, is valued that way, even if it is full today.
• Many markets in one county. Los Angeles County has 88 cities, and a Long Beach industrial building, a Pasadena office building and a Lancaster retail center do not trade the same way. Comparable sales have to come from the right submarket and the right time.

Can the appraisal be done years after the date of death?

Yes, and in Los Angeles it often is. Estates and trusts can take a long time to settle, and sometimes nobody orders an appraisal until a property is about to be sold or a dispute starts. A retrospective appraisal uses the sales, leases and market conditions that were known or knowable as of the date of death. What helps most is anything that shows the property as it was then: photos, the rent roll and leases in place, operating statements for the year around the date, and records of repairs or retrofit work.

What should you send the appraiser?

• The exact date of death and, if there is one, the probate case number
• The purpose: basis, estate tax return, trust administration, division among heirs, a Prop 19 matter or a dispute
• A list of every property with address, APN and property type, in Los Angeles County and anywhere else in California
• Rent rolls, leases and operating statements from around the date of death
• Photos and repair, permit or retrofit records from that time
• Any prior appraisals, purchase contracts, offers or assessor notices
• The attorney or CPA on the estate, and who else will rely on the report

Your appraiser will confirm the exact list on the first call.

How do Los Angeles trustees, attorneys and CPAs work with PM Appraisal?

You call (805) 990-9700 and talk to the appraiser who will inspect the properties and write the reports. No coordinator and no AMC portal. We pick up the phone, and we are your ears and eyes on the property. Rush commercial appraisals take 5 to 7 business days. Standard timing depends on the property and scope, so call for a timeline on your assignment.

Our opinions are independent. We never take an assignment that requires a predetermined value, and our fees are never tied to the result. If heirs or trustees are on opposite sides, tell us at engagement who the client is and who will rely on the report.

Date-of-death work is one example of what we do. PM Appraisal is a family-owned California appraisal firm with about 40 years of work across the state. We appraise every commercial property type, from office, retail, industrial and multifamily to gas stations, hotels, land, vineyards, medical, care facilities and special-use property, and every kind of commercial appraisal: estate and trust, divorce, retroactive, partition, partner and LLC buyouts, eminent domain, tax appeal, lending and consulting. If the estate holds property in several counties, see multi-property portfolio appraisals and our pages for Los Angeles, Orange County and the Inland Empire. See all services.

This article is general information, not legal or tax advice. Talk to your attorney or CPA about your estate, your trust and your situation.

Keep reading

• Date of death appraisals
• Commercial appraisal in Los Angeles
• Date of death appraisal in California: a guide
• Trust administration appraisals in California
• Estate and trust appraisals
• Property tax appeal appraisals

This article is general information, not legal or tax advice. Talk to your attorney or CPA about your situation.